Safety gate

ABSTRACT

A gate is disclosed for closing the openings for ladders or stairwells in the guard rails of walkways. A spring urges a gate member to rotate in one direction and a stop limits the rotation in that direction to position the gate member to close the opening. The stop is adjustable so the gate member can be positioned as required by the location of the opening relative to the guard rail.

United States Patent La Cook et al.

[451 Feb. 18, 1975 1 SAFETY GATE [75] Inventors: Hardy L. La Cook; JohnH.

Conklin, both of Houston, Tex.

[73] Assignee: Fabenco Incorporated, Houston,

Tex.

[22] Filed: Aug. 20, 1973 [2]] Appl. No.: 390,022

[52] US. Cl 49/386, 16/191, 49/49 [51] Int. Cl E05f 1/10 [58] Field ofSearch 49/49, 386; 16/191, 129, 16/131,139,143

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 703.626 7/1902 Upson 16/191912,792 2/1909 Birney 49/49 X 3,079,711 3/1963 Turner 49/49 3,222,80512/1965 Hansen 49/49 Primary Examiner-Kenneth Downey Attorney, Agent. orFirm-Bargfrede and Thompson [57] ABSTRACT A gate is disclosed forclosing the openings for ladders or stairwells in the guard rails ofwalkways. A spring urges a gate member to rotate in one direction and astop limits the rotation in that direction to position the gate memberto close the opening. The stop is adjustable so the gate member can bepositioned as required by the location of the opening relative to theguard rail.

7 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PATENTEU 81975 $866,356

FIG]

m le") SAFETY GATE This invention relates to gates for closing theopenings in the guard rails of walkways that are required for laddersand stairs leading to the walkway.

In nearly all industrial plants, there are walkways from which a workercould fall to a lower level. For safetys sake, these walkways areusually provided with guard rails to help prevent a worker fromaccidentally stepping off the side of the walkway and falling. Forvarious reasons, however, it is necessary to provide openings in theguard rails. Usually, for example, one or more ladders or stairs leadfrom the walkway to a lower level. Openings are provided in the guardrails so that a person can move from the ladders or stairs onto thewalkway and vice versa. Such openings in the guard rails are a danger topersonnel using the walkway. Heretofore, to try to prevent personnelfrom inadvertently falling through such openings, it has been thepractice to connect one end of a chain to one side of the opening andlatch the other end to the other side. Usually, the latch consisted ofan upright pin over which a chain link is hooked, so that the chain canbe quickly and easily unhooked to allow a person to move through theopening after which it is supposed to be hooked again in position acrossthe opening.

Unfortunately, the chain is often not rehooked across the opening,leaving the opening unobstructed where a person on the walkway couldpossibly accidentally step through the opening and fall. Further, evenwhen hooked in place, there is often so much slack in the chain or it isso low that it will offer little help to a person falling against it.

It is an object of this invention to provide a gate having a gate memberfor closing the openings for ladders or stairwells in the guard rails ofwalkways that can be easily moved out of position closing the opening toallow a person to pass through the opening, after which it willautomatically return to a position closing the opening.

It is another object of this invention to provide a gate for suchopenings having a gate member that will remain in position closing theopening unless forceably moved to allow the passage of a person throughthe opening, and that will return to the closed position as soon as itis released by the person forcing the gate open.

It is another object and one of the features of this invention toprovide a gate for such openings in guard rails in which the gate membercan be adjusted to close openings located in different positionsrelative to the guard rail.

It is another object of this invention to provide a safety gate foropenings in guard rails having a gate member that will returnautomatically to a position closing the opening when not forceably heldout of the closed position and that will provide solid support to anyoneon the walkway who leans or falls against the gate member.

These and other objects, advantages, and features of this invention willbe apparent to those skilled in the art from a consideration of thisspecification, including the attached drawings and appended claims.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of the preferred embodiment of thisinvention in position closing an opening in a guard rail for a ladderwherein the plane of the opening is perpendicular to the direction ofthe guard rail;

FIG. 2 is an isometric view of the gate of FIG. 1 in position closing anopening for a staircase wherein the plane of the opening is in line withthe direction of the guard rail;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 33 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 44 of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is a view taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 4.

Openings are required in guard rails for many reasons, one of the mostcommon being to provide access to ladders and stairs. FIG. 1 shows atypical arrangement where ladder 10 is provided for personnel moving upto or down from walkway or catwalk 12. To move between the ladder andthe walkway, a person must move through opening 14 framed by the ladderon one side and guard rail 16 on the other. The guard rails are usuallybuilt like fences with spaced posts, such as post 18, and longitudinallyextending rails, such as rails 20 and 22, that extend between the postsand form a fence to help prevent personnel from falling off the side ofthe walkway. The guard rail usually includes toe plate 24 that extendsbetween the guard rail posts just above the walkway to prevent a personsfoot from slipping off the walkway between the lower rail 22 and thewalkway.

The gate of this invention is shown closing opening 14 in FIG. 1. Itincludes gate member 26 and means for mounting the gate member formovement between a first position closing the opening and a secondposition allowing personnel to pass through the opening. In theembodiment shown, gate member 26 is U-shaped. Spacer plate 27 extendsbetween the two legs to add rigidity to the gate member and for otherpurposes described below. Pivot pin or shaft 28 extends through alignedopenings in the ends of the legs of the U-shaped gate member close tothe ends of the legs, as shown in FIG. 5. Shaft 28 also extends throughbearing sleeves 30 and 32 which are spaced apart and attached tomounting plate 34 to support the gate member for rotation around thelongitudinal axis of the pin.

The entire assembly is mounted on guard rail 16, as shown in FIGS. 1 and3. Mounting plate 34 has elongated opening 36 to receive the threadedends of U- bolt 38 to clamp the mounting plate to post 18 of the guardrail in the desired position above walkway 12. To provide more rigidityto the support for the gate, channels 40 and 42 are pulled together onopposite sides of the vertical flanges of rails 20 and 22 by bolts 44 toclamp the plate to the rails at a point spaced from the U-bolt.

Resilient means are provided to rotate the gate member in one directionaround its pivotal axis provided by shaft 28. In the embodiment shown,spring 46 is coiled around shaft 28 with its ends in engagement withmounting plate 34 and spacer plate 27 of the gate member. The spring isdesigned to urge the gate member to pivot in a counterclockwisedirection, as viewed in FIG. 3, but to allow the gate member to beforceably moved in a clockwise direction to move out of its positionobstructing opening 14 to allow personnel to move through the opening.Means are provided to stop the rotation of the gate member in thecounterclockwise direction when the gate member is in position to closeopening 14 to personnel on walkway 12. In other words, the gate membercan be forceably moved out of the opening in a clockwise directiontoward the guard rail, and when it is released it will be returned bythe spring against the stop means, which will re-position the gatemember to close the opening.

It is one of the features of this invention that the stop means providedare adjustable to allow the angle the gate member makes with themounting means to be adjusted to accommodate openings to be closed thatare in different positions relative to the guard rail. In thisembodiment, the adjustable stop means includes a first stop member fixedrelative to the gate mounting means and a second stop member carried by.the gate member. The stop members are in engagement, when the gatemember is in its first or closed position, and they are resiliently heldin such engagement by spring 46.

To adjust the position of the gate member relative to the mountingmeans, the second stop member is movable relative to the gate member toadjust the angle the gate member makes with the mounting means when thestop members are in engagement. In the embodiment shown, the first stopmember comprises portion 54 of mounting plate 34. The second stop membercomprises bolts 56a and 56b that are mounted on the gate member by nuts58a and 58b attached to spacer plate 27. Bolts 56a and 56b are mountedwith their longitudinal axis generally parallel to and spaced from thevertical plane of the gate member and from the pivotal axis of shaft 28.Preferably, mounting nuts 58a and 58b locate the bolts so that thelongitudinal axis of the bolts are directed generally toward edge 54a ofportion 54 of the mounting plate, when the gate extends 90 degrees fromthe plane of the mounting plate. Further, nuts 58a and 58b are locatedon the opposite side from plate 54 of a plane passing through thepivotal axis of the gate member and perpendicular to the longitudinalaxis of the second stop member, bolts 56a and 56b. This causes the nutsto move to rotate to a position outside or spaced from edge 54a when thegate member swings ninety degrees to carry bolts 56a and 56b intoposition to engage the flat edge surface of portion 54 of the mountingplate. Thus, by adjusting the position of the bolts relative to thenuts, the position of the gate member, i.e., the angle between the gatemember and the mounting plate and the guard rail, when in the first orclosed position, can be adjusted for openings at different positionsrelative to the guard rail.

The most common positions for openings are those shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.In FIG. 1, the plane of opening 14 is perpendicular to the direction ofthe guard rail. In FIG. 2, the plane of opening 60 is in line with thedirection of guard rail 68. Here mounting plate 34 is attached to post66 of guard rail 68 by U-bolt 38 and channels 40 and 42 clamp the plateto the flanges of the rails of the guard rail in the same manner asdescribed above. As explained above, preferably, nuts 58a and 5812 arepositioned to move bolts 56a and 56b into position to engage the endsurface of portion 54 of the mounting plate when the gate member issubstantially in alignment with the direction of the guard rail. Also,preferably, the end of the second stop members are convex or rounded, asbolt heads 70 and 72, so the stop members will engage the mounting plateat or adjacent to edge 54a for most positions of the gate member betweenthose shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that this invention is one welladapted to attain all of the ends and objects hereinablve set forth,together with other advantages that are obvious and that are inherent tothe apparatus.

It will be understood that certain features and subcombinations are ofutility and may be employed without reference to other features andsubcombinations. This is contemplated by and is within the scope of theclaims.

As many possible embodiments may be made of the apparatus of thisinvention without departing from the scope thereof, it is to beunderstood that all matter herein set forth or shown in the accompanyingdrawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limitingsense.

The invention having been described, what is claimed 1. A safety gatefor closing the opening in the guard rail of a walkway for a ladder,stairwell, or the like comprising a gate member, means for mounting thegate member for pivotal movement between a first position extendingacross such opening and a second position to allow passage therethrough,stop means for allowing the gate member to pivot in only one directionfrom the first position, said stop means including a first stop membermounted on one of the gate member and the gate member mounting means anda second stop member mounted on the other one of the gate member and thegate member mounting means to engage the stop means and hold the gate inthe first position, said second stop means being movable sufficiently toallow the first position to be adjusted relative to the mounting meansthrough an angle of about ninety degrees as required by the location ofthe opening, and resilient means urging the gate member toward the firstposition to maintain the gate member in the first position closing theopening to prevent passage therethrough in one direction when the gatemember is not forceably held in the second position.

2. The gate of claim 1 in which the first stop member is mounted on andfixed relative to the gate member mounting means and the second stopmember is mounted on and movable relative to the gate member.

3. A safety gate for closing the opening in the guard rail of a walkwayfor a ladder, stairwell, or the like comprising a gate member, means formounting the gate member for pivotal movement between a first positionextending across such opening and a second position to allow passagetherethrough, stop means for allowing the gate member to pivot in onlyone direction from the first position, said stop means including a firststop member fixed relative to the gate member mounting means and havingtwo perpendicular surfaces that intersect along a line that is parallelto the pivotal axis around which the gate member pivots, a second stopmember, means mounting the second stop member on the gate member toengage the fixed stop member when the gate member is in its firstposition, said second member being movable relative to the gate memberalong a line spaced from and parallel to the gate member to adjust theangle the gate member makes with the mounting means, the second membermounting means being positioned for the second member to move out ofengagement with one of said two surfaces and into engagement with theother as the first position of the gate member is adjusted approximatelyninety degrees relative to the mounting means, and resilient meansurging the gate member toward the first position to maintain the gatemember in the first position closing the opening to prevent passagetherethrough in one 6 opening and a position permitting free passage.

6. The gate of claim 5 in which the end of the stop member that engagesthe plate is convex.

7. The gate of claim 5 in which the stop member is threaded andsupported on the gate member in a tapped opening so that rotation of themember will adjust the position of the gate member relative to themounting means in the closed position.

1. A safety gate for closing the opening in the guard rail of A walkwayfor a ladder, stairwell, or the like comprising a gate member, means formounting the gate member for pivotal movement between a first positionextending across such opening and a second position to allow passagetherethrough, stop means for allowing the gate member to pivot in onlyone direction from the first position, said stop means including a firststop member mounted on one of the gate member and the gate membermounting means and a second stop member mounted on the other one of thegate member and the gate member mounting means to engage the stop meansand hold the gate in the first position, said second stop means beingmovable sufficiently to allow the first position to be adjusted relativeto the mounting means through an angle of about ninety degrees asrequired by the location of the opening, and resilient means urging thegate member toward the first position to maintain the gate member in thefirst position closing the opening to prevent passage therethrough inone direction when the gate member is not forceably held in the secondposition.
 2. The gate of claim 1 in which the first stop member ismounted on and fixed relative to the gate member mounting means and thesecond stop member is mounted on and movable relative to the gatemember.
 3. A safety gate for closing the opening in the guard rail of awalkway for a ladder, stairwell, or the like comprising a gate member,means for mounting the gate member for pivotal movement between a firstposition extending across such opening and a second position to allowpassage therethrough, stop means for allowing the gate member to pivotin only one direction from the first position, said stop means includinga first stop member fixed relative to the gate member mounting means andhaving two perpendicular surfaces that intersect along a line that isparallel to the pivotal axis around which the gate member pivots, asecond stop member, means mounting the second stop member on the gatemember to engage the fixed stop member when the gate member is in itsfirst position, said second member being movable relative to the gatemember along a line spaced from and parallel to the gate member toadjust the angle the gate member makes with the mounting means, thesecond member mounting means being positioned for the second member tomove out of engagement with one of said two surfaces and into engagementwith the other as the first position of the gate member is adjustedapproximately ninety degrees relative to the mounting means, andresilient means urging the gate member toward the first position tomaintain the gate member in the first position closing the opening toprevent passage therethrough in one direction when the gate member isnot forceably held in the second position.
 4. The gate of claim 3 inwhich the second stop member is a threaded rod having a convex surfaceon the end that engages the first stop member.
 5. A gate for closing anopening in the guard rail of a walkway for ladders, stairs, or the likecomprising a gate member, means for mounting the gate member for pivotalmovement between a position closing such opening and a positionpermitting free passage.
 6. The gate of claim 5 in which the end of thestop member that engages the plate is convex.
 7. The gate of claim 5 inwhich the stop member is threaded and supported on the gate member in atapped opening so that rotation of the member will adjust the positionof the gate member relative to the mounting means in the closedposition.